Startup Spotlight: Devin Tyler of Tenacity

By: Neesha Godbole, Staff Writer Tenacity began with a simple question: what if college students could turn their class projects into real, paid work? For Founder and Kellogg Evening & Weekend alumnus Devin Tyler, the idea grew out of a frustrating experience trying to hire a developer: he spent thousands on work that a student could have finished in a week. Based in Chicago, Tenacity is now building a marketplace that connects student freelancers with startups that need high-quality help but lack agency-sized budgets—bridging ambition and opportunity for both sides.

From Consultant to Founder

Born and raised in Chicago, Devin studied business at Lake Forest College with every intention of climbing the corporate ladder. His goal wasn’t to start a company—it was to become a Fortune 500 COO, the dependable #2 behind the scenes. After several years in management consulting, he enrolled in Kellogg’s Evening & Weekend Program to sharpen his skills while continuing to advance at work.

What he didn’t expect was how much the program would change his perspective. Surrounded by professionals tackling real business problems by day and discussing them in class at night, Devin found himself increasingly drawn to entrepreneurship. Courses like Managerial Leadership with Harry Kramer and Selling Yourself and Your Ideas encouraged him to think beyond process and efficiency and imagine what it might look like to build something of his own. The First Leap and Pivot

Devin graduated from Kellogg in 2023 and, just a few months later, quit his consulting job cold-turkey to start Tenacity. The company’s first version looked very different from what it is today: an AI-powered confidence coach designed to help people set and achieve professional goals. The app launched in 2024 to strong initial interest but little sustained use—a discovery that led Devin back to user interviews and campus focus groups.

Most of those early users were college students with career-related goals, and their feedback revealed something bigger: they didn’t need more motivation, they needed opportunities. Many didn’t just want help setting goals; they wanted opportunities to act on them. They were searching for ways to earn money and build their resumes at the same time.That insight became the foundation for Tenacity’s pivot—a marketplace connecting student freelancers with startups that need affordable, high-quality talent.

Building Tenacity Today

Tenacity has grown quickly since that pivot. The team recently launched its web app, which automates much of the project posting and management process—matching startups with students, helping scope deliverables, and streamlining payments. Built with AI, the platform can even draft project descriptions, estimate timelines, and recommend price ranges to make getting started simple for both sides.

The marketplace is now active across Lake Forest College, Northwestern, the University of Chicago, DePaul, and the University of Illinois, giving students a way to gain experience and earn money without leaving campus. For startups, Tenacity offers an affordable alternative to agencies, charging a modest 10–12% project fee. Early use cases range from marketing and design work to building proof-of-concept tech products, projects that would normally cost thousands more. As the team prepares to close a pre-seed round, Devin is focused on scaling both sides of the marketplace and building awareness through creative campus and founder campaigns. Resilience and Leadership

For Devin, building Tenacity has been as much a test of mindset as of strategy. The hardest part, he says, isn’t the workload, it’s navigating the uncertainty that comes with building something new. “There are times when you’re putting yourself through this and it doesn’t make sense,” he admits. “But discipline and consistency are everything.”

His approach to leadership mirrors that discipline. Each day, he works from a shared space in Chicago alongside other founders who understand the entrepreneurial grind. That routine, combined with a close network of peers and mentors, helps counter the isolation that comes with early-stage building.

Perhaps his biggest personal shift has been learning to separate himself from the company. “Tenacity isn’t my identity,” he says. “If it fails, I’m not a failure. I’m still a brother, a friend, a runner.” That perspective keeps him grounded through the inevitable highs and lows of the founder journey.

Kellogg’s Influence

Kellogg, Devin says, is what first pushed him to dream bigger. The Evening & Weekend Program gave him space to explore ideas beyond consulting, and conversations with professors like Carter Cast encouraged him to take those ideas seriously. “I came in thinking I’d stay on a corporate track,” he says. “Kellogg made me realize I could build something of my own.”

Lessons from the Journey

Asked what advice he’d give to other Kellogg students thinking about starting something, Devin pauses for a moment before answering. “Solve for pain points, not problems.” He learned that distinction early on, after realizing his first idea wasn’t addressing something people were truly willing to pay for. “If you focus on a real pain point,” he says, “you give yourself a much higher chance to win.”

As Tenacity continues to grow, Devin describes his journey in three words: ambitious, surprising, and fun. After two intense years of building, he’s finally starting to come up for air. “I’d love to get my summer back,” he laughs. “But honestly, I wouldn’t trade any of it.” Read More Startup Spotlights by Neesha Godbole: Nico Casaux, Founder of Bianca